I am an emeritus professor from Cornell University and was a Commissioned Lay Preacher in the Presbyterian Church (USA). For many years I have followed the Daily Lectionary as printed in the Mission Yearbook of my church. For each day of a two-year cycle, the lectionary lists four psalms and three other scriptural passages--usually one from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament. My practice is to copy down a verse or two from one of the psalms and from each of the other three passages. After I have written out all four selections, I reflect upon them, rearrange their order, and incorporate them into a meditation. Sometimes I retain much of the original wording; sometimes all that remains of a selection is an idea that was stimulated when I read the original words. All selections are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. For the Daily Lectionary, see the link below.

The Life that Really Is Life--May 25, 2013



 Great Spirit of Creation, you renew the face of the ground.
Renew us, that we may resume our journey,
climbing up into the hill country.

Make us good, rich in good works,
generous--ready to share with those who cannot
repay us, that we may take hold of the life that really is life.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 104; 149; 138; 98
Deut. 1:1-8
1 Tim. 6:6-21
Luke 14:12-24

Selected Verses

Ps. 104:30
 When you send forth your spirit, [your creatures] are created;
          and you renew the face of the ground.

Deut. 1:6-7a
The LORD our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, "You have stayed long enough at this mountain.  Resume your journey, and go into the hill country of the Amorites as well as into the neighboring regions…"

1 Tim. 6:18
[Those who in the present age are rich] are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.

Luke 14:13-14
"…But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.   And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."  [Jesus to the one who invited him for dinner]

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